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On 2/24/2024 at 10:40 AM, cruising.mark.uk said:

This is an emotive topic on here!

 

They are still employing a system whereby those who turn up well in advance of the check-in / boarding time they were assigned are / may be held in queues outside until their check-in time.  I think that is entirely right and fair.  Others on this board disagree.

 

Our experience in late Jan on Iona is that the boarding process is very quick and smooth if you arrive at the time you are allocated (or no more than 15 or 20 minutes before that time).  That's what we did and it took us 20 minutes from getting out of the taxi to stepping on board the ship.  As we walked into the terminal, we passed probably a hundred people 'penned' in a queue outside.

 

For the vast majority of passengers, there are a raft of options that allow arrival time at the terminal to be matched with the time allocated.  Those have been discussed ad infinitum in related threads on this topic.  Doing that - for most - will be much easier, relaxing and more comfortable than pitching up two or three hours early, being made to queue and then complaining vociferously about it.  I appreciate that for some it may be impossible to time arrival / use alternative options away from the port, but that will only be the case for a handful of passengers with very unusual circumstances.  For the rest, my view is that, if they are able and mobile enough to cruise, they are able and mobile enough to avail themselves of the opportunities away from the terminal that will avoid them having to queue if they are early.  And those who have registered in advance for assistance will almost certainly be allowed to queue inside the terminal if they do arrive early. 

Noted - but we live a 6 hour drive away and have to leave early - a couple of years ago you could just wait in the terminal all warm and dry until you were called - not an issue waiting if you were too early!  i don't think it's appropriate to say if you are able to cruise you can avail yourself of the opportunities available near the terminal!!!  I have back issues - I am mobile but standing for a long time can be an issue.  

We’ve just booked for Arvia in June - last year there was a ridiculous check in system whereby everyone had to stand outside (in our case for over 3 hours) before you were allowed into the terminal to check in - is this still the case or has it returned to the previous system of being allowed to wait in the terminal before being called up to check in??

Many thanks

Thanks Andy - and you.

Good to know - had visions of it being a repeat of last year.

Due to sail on Britannia 2 weeks today - the only bookable dining option is The Limelight Club.  P&O assure me that all speciality restaurants are open and operational (last year we went and all closed) - anyone know why could cannot currently book Epicurean and Sindhu online?  Anyone been on Britannia lately and are these restaurants open?

On 6/25/2022 at 1:37 PM, newbie cruissy said:

I'm hearing some noise that some of the speciality dining options (Epicurean / Sindu / The Quays) mat be closed on coming sailings, including ours. Can anyone confirm? Maybe report from the last week? Concerning, the change of itinerary aside, this is becoming a touch disappointing if true... 

P&O confirmed on Twitter yesterday that Epicurean on Iona is closed until further notice.  No afternoon tea either -“enhanced” afternoon tea in Horizon instead.

On 6/29/2022 at 9:38 PM, newbie cruissy said:

So when listed as "Available to book on board" can one assume that they will be open? This is the new message on my online booking. 

Not at all!!! They open for online booking 2 weeks before you sail - we booked 7 nights at Epicurean as you couldn’t actually book for every night - then about a week before we sailed it changed to “enquire on board” - when we got on board we were told it’s closed for the entire cruise - so they were happy to take money up front!!

Currently on Britannia - we pre-booked Epicurean for most nights - got on board to make another booking only to be told it is closed for the entire cruise and glass house not serving food.  No announcement made at all.  When we complained we were told it was very last minute with the impression being given that 120 staff had not been able to get on board the ship - clearly not confined to Britannia on this cruise judging by the comments.  

On 9/7/2021 at 8:32 PM, Son of Anarchy said:

The Ole Lady likes the gin flights.  Hopefully Iona will have them as well.

Yes it does but it was in Andersons - the Crow's Nest only had one or two gins to choose from.

Thank you for your review - I have just got back from Iona and will be posting my own review.  I think it's fair to say that I agree with most of what you have said - beautiful ship but definitely lacking the Wow factor I was expecting.  It's only a small thing - but wholly agree with the hairdryer - I always bring my own but as it was packed on the last evening thought i would use theirs - very good!

No drawers is an issue I think - fine for 7 days but struggling a bit for space possibly for longer cruises.

Sounds like you had all the bells and whistles for your entertainment - sadly nothing like the same on our cruise.  Had a lovely time but there were certainly some issues which I wlll reserve for my review.

Hi - can you tell me what the selection of drinks in Brodie's was like - they used to do "The Great British Beer Menu" - I don't think they call it that now, but they always had an extensive range of bottled beers - just come off Iona and it's a very disappointing and paired down selection of drinks in all bars.

In The Crow's nest do they still do the Gin Menu?  On Iona that's been relocated to Andersons Bar - the range is very good, but Andersons is very soulless and so it's not a place you would really want to stay in.

Thanks

Could you provide some feedback as to the drinks menu in Brodies - they used to do "The great british beer menu" - I don't think they call it that but essentially they had an extensive range of bottled beers - Iona doesn't have that - a very paired down selection which is very disappointing.

Many thanks for the comments - decided that Celebrity is not going to be what we are looking for - I appreciate the comments about food being subjective - it’s a big part of the overall experience for us so it’s an important factor.

We are thinking of booking a cruise on Summit next year for our 25th Anniversary.  Never been on Celebrity before so we are wondering what the food is like.  Recently we have cruised on P&O Britannia - yes the food in the MDR is not so good, but we tend to pay the supplement and eat in Epicurean which is probably on a par with the Michelin star restaurants we have eaten in.

Can anyone let me know what the MDR and speciality food is like.

I've seen pictures taken by passengers - some of it looks pretty grim tbh - but some photos it looks great.  I've heard Celebrity is the cruise line for foodies???  Thoughts and comments welcome.

32 minutes ago, capriccio said:

If you haven't already,  would also post this on the Oceania cruise board where it will be seen by more Oceania cruisers:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/29-oceania-cruises/

Thanks for that - I hadn’t realised I hadn’t done so.

Thanks for the information - the sample menu on Oceania’s website for the GDR just wasn’t very inspiring.

Hubby and I are looking at an anniversary cruise on Oceania next year - as it’s a special anniversary we are looking to upgrade somewhat and Oceania looks appealing.

Noted though that we would only have 1 reservation per speciality restaurant - usually we pay on P&O Britannia and go in Epicurean every night - so a bit disappointing to see the restriction.  I’m wanting to know how flexible this would be though - if you have used your allocation is that it or are they flexible and allow multiple bookings.

I know I’m comparing apples and oranges here but how does the main restaurant compare to more mainstream cruise lines - P&O’s main restaurant is not great hence the Epicurean reservations!!

Also - how many guests do the speciality restaurants accommodate - I’m thinking if they are only small, reservations might be an issue.

Thanks all for your responses in advance.